Preparation and use of gamma-butyrolactones as cross-linking agents

ABSTRACT

The rate of aminolysis of butyrolactones is predictably adjusted by attaching a substituent having a known field effect value (F) to the alpha position before reacting the substituted buytrolactone with an amine. The aminolysis product is a gamma-hydroxy amide. The resulting materials are useful as the cross-linking agents in a variety of coatings and coatings processes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the preparation of gamma-butyrolactones and their use as cross-linking agents in various processes, including coating applications. Gamma-butyrolactones as cross-linking agents impart favorable properties to coating materials, do not pose serious health risks in commonly used coating processes, and therefore are suitable alternatives for isocyanates in coating compositions and application processes.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Materials commonly used for coatings, particularly those used in the automotive industry, utilize isocyanate compounds in coating formulations due to cross-linking properties of the compounds. Diisocyanate compounds react slowly at room temperature with amines and aliphatic alcohols to make polymers having urethane or urea crosslinks. Isocyanates may also cross-link with amines or alcohols during a baking step of the coating process and result in urethane or urea crosslinked polymers. Both urethanes and ureas are known to impart desirable properties in coating materials. Polymer backbones appended with hydroxyl groups or amine groups harden coating materials such as paint.

Isocyanates are volatile compounds. During the coating or baking step, persons working in the automotive industry, for example, are exposed to the vapors. Concern about the potential toxicity and health related effects associated with isocyanates suggests that alternatives are needed. The present invention discloses alternatives to isocyanates as cross-linking agents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed in this invention is a lactone composition, as represented in structure I, wherein each n is independently 1 to 3; L is either present as a substituent having two functional groups, or is a direct bond forming a spiro-butyrolactone, or is H wherein rings of the structure are not connected, or is a radically polymerizable group wherein the rings of the structure are not connected; Y is either present independently as alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl or a direct bond; each X is independently a substituent having a field effect, F, between −0.42 and +1.58

Also disclosed in this invention is a process comprising contacting lactones of structure B with an amine to form a hydroxy amide, wherein each Y is present independently as alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, or a direct bond; each X is independently a substituent having a field effect, F, between −0.42 and +1.58; wherein R is a branched or straight chain alkyl group of C₁ to C₁₀, or an aryl group; and wherein each n is independently 1 to 3.

This invention also discloses a process comprising contacting a spiro-bislactone of structure A, wherein each n=1 to 3 independently and R is a branched or straight chain alkyl group of C₁ to C₁₀, or an aryl group; with an amine to form a hydroxy amide.

Also disclosed in a process comprising contacting a bicyclo-lactone of structure C wherein R is a branched or straight chain alkyl group of C₁ to C₁₀, an aryl group; or C(O)OE wherein E is independently alkyl or aryl, with an amine.

Also disclosed in this invention is a process comprising contacting a polymer comprising at least one polymerized lactone monomer of structure D with an amine to form a hydroxy amide, wherein each Y is present independently as alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, or a direct bond; each X is independently a substituent having a field effect, F, between −0.42 and +1.58; and wherein R_(PG) is a radically polymerizable substituent group selected from the group consisting of styrene, acrylate, methacrylate, acrylamide, and methacrylamide; and wherein n is independently 1 to 3.

Still another disclosure of this invention is a process, comprising:

(i) performing the steps of any one of the disclosed processes; and applying a product resulting from step (i) to an object surface.

Also disclosed is an article treated by a process disclosed as described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plot of the relative aminolysis rates, expressed as log(k/k_(o)), for the substituted gamma-butyrolactones versus the F values for the functional groups as given in Hansch, et al., Chem. Rev., 1991, 91, pp. 165-195. The x axis is labeled “F”. The letter “F” refers to the substituent constant that is related to the “field effect”.

FIG. 2 is a plot depicting the aminolysis rate of gamma-butyrolactone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Isocyanates are used extensively in materials used as coatings. One example of isocyanate use is in the automotive industry. Isocyanates are used as cross-linking agents for coating automobiles during different manufacturing coating processes. Concern has increased over the potential health hazards associated with the use of isocyanates. This present invention discloses alternatives to coating formulations comprising isocyanates and alternatives to the use of isocyanate formulations in coating processes, including electrocoat (E-coat), original equipment manufacturing (OEM), and Refinish.

The aminolysis of gamma-butyrolactones may be described as an amide forming reaction caused by the reaction of a primary amine with a cyclic ester, or lactone, to give a hydroxyamide. Lactones do not always react with amines quickly enough for application as a cross-linking agent in some coating processes. When the aminolysis reaction proceeds too slowly, the curing of the material is time consuming. For room temperature curing, a reaction that proceeds too slowly is industrially inefficient. An increased aminolysis reaction rate at or about room temperature produces a crosslinking agent which is useful for clear coats and color coats. Such processes are used in automotive body repair shops (i.e., Refinish), for example, where baking the finish is impractical. However, for applications where baking is required, if the aminolysis reaction rate is increased too sharply, the accelerated reaction may result in an aesthetically and mechanically undesirable coating, because the prepolymer begins to crosslink in the baking process before the coating has had enough time to flow out to form a smooth surface, thus resulting in a rough surface. These problems are resolved by the present invention.

In this invention the aminolysis rate can be predicted, thereby providing alternatives to currently used processes. This invention can be tailored to the particular coating process. An adjustable aminolysis reaction rate can result in a crosslinking agent which yields a melting and flowing of the coating material to produce a smooth and evenly coated surface when such a surface is desired.

Specifically, this invention discloses compounds and processes to predictably adjust the rate of aminolysis of gamma-butyrolactones by appending a substituent having a known field effect value (F) to the alpha position of a gamma-butyrolactone before reacting the lactone with an amine. The resulting compound of the aminolysis is a gamma hydroxy amide, which can be used as the cross-linking group in a variety of coating formulations and processes. Throughout this description, reference is made to gamma-butyrolactones. However, it should be understood that this invention is not limited to gamma-butyrolactones, but also covers delta- and epsilon-lactones, as indicated by structure I.

After many years of effort, physical organic chemists developed a number of sigma constants to apply to various aromatic and aliphatic reactions. C. G. Swain and E. C. Lupton, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1968, 90, 4328, reanalyzed the data that was used to develop the sigma constants σ_(m), σ_(p), σp⁻, σp⁺, σI, σ_(R) ^(o) and found that the sigma constants were not independent. The sigma constants contained contributions from both resonance and field contributions. It was discovered that a linear combination of two sets of new values “F” (which expresses the field-effect contribution of a functional group) and “R” (which measures the resonance contribution of the same group) satisfactorily expressed 43 sets of σ values. Each set was expressed as

σ=fF+rR

where “f” and “r” are weighting factors. The importance of the expression is that the electronic effects of a given substituent could be separated and expressed as only two constants. A useful set of F and R values is given in C. Hansch, et al., Chem. Rev., 1991, 91, pp. 165-195, herein incorporated by reference.

Having derived a universal set of F and R constants for substituent groups, these can then be used in a Hammett equation to examine the effect of a particular substituent on the reaction rate of a particular reaction. In general, the Hammett equation can be written as

Log (k/k _(o))=ρF+ρR

where (k/k_(o)) is the relative reaction rate, ρ is rho, and F and R are the field and resonance contributions of the substituent groups. The slope of the line, called rho, is given the Greek symbol, ρ, and represents the sensitivity of the reaction to the variation of substituents. (An explanation of the use of Hammett equations can be found in J. March, “Advanced Organic Chemistry”, 3rd ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., N.Y., 1985, pp 242-250 and references cited therein, and is herein incorporated by reference.) In order to use the Hammett equation to predict the relative reaction rates of lactones, it was first necessary to establish that the Hammett equation applies to aminolysis of lactones. For aliphatic lactone rings, only the field effect should apply since the resonance effect is absent in compounds that do not have conjugated double bonds joining the substituent with the reaction center. In this case, the reaction center is the lactone carbonyl group. Since resonance contributions to the aminolysis reaction of a saturated lactone are absent, the Hammett equation given above can be modified to give

Log (k/k _(o))=ρF

The relative aminolysis reaction rate for a lactone possessing a given substituent was plotted against the F value for the given substituent. If the Hammett equation applies, the resulting set of points should form a straight line that passes through the origin [0,0]. The relative reaction rate for various lactones was plotted against F and is shown in FIG. 1. The resulting points were fitted to a straight line using a linear least squares equation. The resulting line has a correlation coefficient of 0.992. It was not known beforehand whether lactones would obey the Hammett equation. From this novel result, it can be concluded that the Hammett equation can be used to relate and predict the effect of an alpha substituent on the aminolysis reaction rate of a cyclic lactone. Using such a high correlation coefficient, our invention utilizes an understanding of how to substitute a lactone, having 3 to 6 members in the lactone ring, to give any reaction rate desired. One can speed up or slow down the aminolysis reaction at will by the choice of substituents.

From FIG. 1 it can be seen that the relative reaction rates vary by almost five orders of magnitude. It is experimentally difficult to employ uniform reaction conditions when such large differences in relative reaction rate are found. On some of the fastest reacting lactones, the concentration of the reactants had to be reduced by half in order to determine their reaction rates. The rates were then adjusted to account for the effect of dilution. The adjustment is based on aminolysis studies performed on acyclic esters; in these studies, the reaction rate was found to obey the rate law

Rate (R)=k₁[amine]²[ester]+k₂[amine][ester]

(See F. M. Menger and J. H. Smith, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1972, 94(11), 3824-3829). The dominant term in this expression is the second one since the magnitude of the rates k₁ and k₂ are approximately equal; this means that the observed reaction rate will be increased by a factor of 4.0 when the concentration of both amine and lactone are reduced by half. The rate law for lactones is similar to those for esters. The relative reaction rate can then be adjusted by the inverse of 4.0, i.e., 0.25, to compare the reaction rates of the diluted lactones with lactones that have not been diluted.

In the aminolysis of lactones, the reaction rate was not determined directly. What was determined was the half-life of the reaction, t_(1/2), which is the point in time when the concentration of lactone or amine becomes equal to the concentration of hydroxyamide. For a second order reaction t_(12A)=1/(k[A]), where [A] is the concentration of lactone A and k is the reaction rate. Thus k=1/(t_(1/2)[A]). Similarly, the reaction rate for the standard, k_(o), is k_(o)=1/(t_(1/2)[B]). When the half-life of lactone A is compared to the half-life of a standard lactone, B, it is seen that the ratio of reaction rates is inversely porportional to the ratio of half-lives (see C. Capellos and B. H. J. Bielski, “Kinetic Systems”, Wiley-Interscience, NY, 1972, p 4).

(k/k _(o))=(1/(t _(1/2) [A]))/((1/(t _(1/2) [B]))=t _(1/2B) /t _(1/2A)

These adjusted reaction rates are exemplified and depicted graphically in the plot of FIG. 1. Equal quantities of N-butylamine and substituted lactone were allowed to react at room temperature (22° C.) in an NMR tube. The integrated intensity of the CH₂ adjacent to the amide nitrogen in butyl amine and the CH₂ of the resulting hydroxyamide was measured by ¹H NMR. The integrated intensity was plotted against time and the time when the curves crossed was taken as the half-life of the reaction, since at that time both species (amide and butylamine) were equal in concentration. Since all concentrations of reactants were kept the same, the relative rates (k/k_(o)) are proportional to the relative crossover times.

The relative “F” values provide predictable information about the aminolysis reaction rate for those substituents where F equals from about −0.42 to about +1.58, which applies to more than 500 substituents. Various electron withdrawing groups, which have an F value greater than 0.03, and which are appended to the alpha position of the lactone carbonyl group give “activated” lactones. By “activated” is meant a lactone having electron withdrawing properties. Various electron withdrawing groups may be used, including —CN and —C(O)COR. Lactones having these substituents have different reaction rates. The electron withdrawing groups can be classified by their F values. Positive F values indicate electron withdrawing properties and negative F values indicate electron donating properties. H is assigned an F value of 0.03. The F value of a group is related to the half-life of the reaction of lactones with amines. For example, the adjusted half-lives of —CN, —C(O)COR and —H are about 1.25 minutes, about 88 minutes and about 165 hours, respectively.

In an embodiment of this invention, the substituted gamma-butyrolactone has the structure:

wherein each n is independently 1 to 3; L is a bifunctional compound or nothing; each Y is independently nothing, alkenyl, alkynyl, or aryl; each X is independently a substituent having a field effect, F, between −0.42 and +1.58; wherein when Y is nothing, then X is appended directly to the lactone ring; wherein when L is hydrogen, the lactone rings are not connected; and wherein when L is nothing, the lactones form a spiro-bislactone (See Fig. A below). When Y is alkenyl, the alkenyl group is defined as

wherein each B₁ to B₃ is individually a substituent group X as defined above.

When Y is phenyl, the phenyl group is defined as

wherein A₁ to A₅ are each individually a substituent group X as defined above. When Y is an alkynyl group, it has the structure

 where X is as defined above.

Any primary or secondary amine with a reactive amino group is suitable for this process. Primary amines are preferred.

During this reaction the lactone rings opens and a gamma-hydroxy amide is formed. For example, where —CN is the activating group on the lactone, the reaction can be depicted as

This invention discloses the use of spiro (A), substituted (B) and bicyclic (C) lactones of the following structures, as well as the use of polymers, such as acrylic polymers, containing lactone group(s) prepared from lactone monomers (D) of the structure reported below

The bicyclolactone can have a structure such as

and the spirolactone can have a structure such as

and the lactone monomer can have the structure

for use as cross-linking agents in coating processes, wherein the linking group, C_(n), is defined for when n=1 to 3, preferably n=1 to 2 and most preferably n=1. The F values for substituent X and reaction temperatures permits customization of the reaction for the coating process by predicting the aminolysis rates of the cross-linking agent. In one embodiment of this invention bis-lactone is reacted with an amine. In another embodiment of this invention a monolactone is reacted with a diamine or an aminoalcohol. The substituents which are useful to activate the lactone disclosed in this invention are functional groups having an F value from about −0.42 to about 1.58 and are provided in Table 1.

The preferred substituents, X, are found in Table 1, identified with the numbers 2, 5, 15, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 40, 43, 45, 47, 48, 49, 58, 62, 70, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 84, 85, 90, 93, 94.95, 97, 98, 99.100, 101, 102, 103, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 125, 127, 128, 133, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, 148, 150, 151, 153, 156, 160, 161, 162, 163, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 175, 177, 178, 179, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 197, 198, 199.200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 231, 232, 233, 234, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 283, 284, 285, 286, 288, 289, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 297, 298, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529 and 530.

The most preferred substituents, X, are found in Table 1, identified with the numbers 2, 5, 15, 28, 32, 33, 40, 45, 49, 70, 75, 76, 78, 80, 84, 85, 90, 93, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 111, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 125, 127, 128, 133, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, 148, 150, 151, 153, 156, 160, 161, 162, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 175, 177, 178, 179, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191, 192, 193, 194, 194, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 207, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 231, 232, 233, 234, 238, 239, 240, 241, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 267, 270, 271, 272, 273, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 285, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 297, 298, 300, 303, 317, 318, 323, 325, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 345, 378, 379, 380, 384, 388, 395, 396, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 416, 417, 420, 424, 425, 433, 448, 449, 450, 453, 458, 460, 474, 475 and 512.

Temperatures of the process is not critical, a preferred temperature range for ambient (Refinish) curing is about −20° C. to about 120° C., more preferably about 0° C. to about 110° C., and especially preferably about 10° C. to about 100° C. Preferred temperatures for E-coat or OEM applications are not critical, a preferred temperature being in the range of 20° C. to about 250° C., more preferably about 40° C. to 220° C., most preferably about 100° C. to 200° C. Ratios of reactants are not critical, but in order to most efficiently utilize the ingredients a molar ratio of about 1:1 for the lactone and primary amine groups is preferred.

In general, all that is necessary for the reaction to occur is to bring the reactants into contact, as in solution, or if one or both of the primary amine and lactone are liquids, without solvent, for a period of time sufficient to carry out the reaction.

Polymers that contain lactone groups are especially useful since they may be crosslinked by multifunctional compounds that can react with lactone groups. Multifunctional amines are particularly desirable in this respect, since upon reaction with the lactone, hydroxyamides are formed. This invention discloses that butyrolactones are desirable in polymers for certain uses; for example, in coatings butyrolactones impart certain improved properties such as gloss, impact resistance, adhesion and toughness.

The gamma-butyrolactones can be introduced into polymers by being part of polymerizable monomers, such as those described above, which may bc prepared by the methods reported in Zamzow et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,895 issued Jul. 10, 2001 and Noe et al, Monatsh. Chem. (1997) 128(5), 509-527, and which may be free-radically copolymerized with other monomers to form a copolymer which may be crosslinked with a di- (or higher) functional primary amine or a primary amine-containing polymer. Such a lactone containing polymer preferably contains an average of 2 or more lactone groups per polymer molecule. Conversely, a polymer containing primary amine groups may be crosslinked by a compound containing two or more lactone groups or a polymer containing lactone groups. In both instances, the crosslinks contain desirable hydroxyamide groups. In a coating process, the lactone may be premixed with either the polymer or crosslinking compound, and then the polymer and crosslinking compound mixed with each other, and the polymer will eventually crosslink. If meant for a coating, the mixture may be applied to the surface of an object in a normal manner (e.g., spraying, dipping or brushing) and upon standing at ambient conditions the polymeric coating will crosslink. Other ingredients normally present in such coatings can also be present, such as pigments, dyes, antioxidants, reflective agents, dispersants, etc.

Coatings which are crosslinked by the process described herein are especially useful for transportation vehicles such as airplanes, automobiles, trucks and railroad cars. They are especially suitable for refinish operations, i.e., repainting of a surface after the coated object has been in us or service for some time period. The coatings may be applied without the need for baking, as is often done when the transportation vehicle is first manufactured.

EXAMPLES

Unless otherwise stated, all chemicals and reagents were used as received from Aldrich Chemical Co., Milwaukee, Wis.

¹H NMR spectra were recorded on a GE Omega 300 spectrometer (General Electric Co., Schenectady, N.Y.) operating at 300.275 MHz, relative to a tetramethylsilane internal standard, and are given in ppm. Durene was used as an inert internal standard.

Infrared spectra were recorded on a Nicolet Impact 410 spectrometer manufactured by Nicolet Instrument Corp., Doylestown, Pa.

Synthesis of Substituted Gamma-Butyrolactones Example 1 Synthesis of 3-cyano-5-phenoxymethyl-gamma-butyrolactone

A 4-necked 500 ml round bottomed flask equipped with a nitrogen bubbler, reflux condenser, and stirrer was charged with 250 ml of ethanol. Over a period of 10 minutes 2.4 g of sodium hydride was added with stirring. After stirring., a solution of 3.3 g of malononitrile in 10 ml of ethanol was added. To this mixture was added during 15 min. a solution of 7.5 g 1,2-epoxy-3-phenoxypropane from an addition funnel. The reaction mixture was refluxed for 2 hours and then allowed to stand overnight at room temperature. The solvent was removed on a rotary evaporator and the residual syrup was dissolved in 250 ml of methylene chloride and reacted with 250 ml of 1 N hydrochloric acid for 30 min. The methylene chloride layer was separated and the water layer was washed with 25 ml of methylene chloride. The methylene chloride layers were combined, washed with 200 ml of water, and dried over magnesium sulfate. The solvent was removed. The residue was dissolved in ethanol, treated with charcoal, and filtered. The filtrate gave 3.6 g of white crystals mp 125-130° C. IR (nujol) 1785.66 and 1772.54 cm⁻¹ (cis and trans isomers of lactone carbonyl). ¹H NMR (acetone-d₆) 5.1 and 5.2 ppm (both m, cis and trans isomers of 5-H lactone ring).

Example 2 Synthesis of 5.5′-[1,4-butylenebis(oxymethylene)]-bis[ethyl(tetrahydro-2-oxo)-3-furancarboxylate

A 2 liter 4-necked round bottomed flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer, reflux condenser, nitrogen bubbler and thermocouple thermometer was charged with 600 ml ethanol and 58.08 g of sodium methoxide. Then, while stirring, 168.2 g of diethyl malonate was added followed by 101.1 g of 1,4-butanedioldiglycidyl ether. The reaction was refluxed for one hour. The reaction was neutralized with 5% hydrochloric acid and extracted four times with 250 ml of methylene chloride. The methylene chloride layers were combined and washed with 100 ml water, separated, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated to give a syrup. IR (neat) 1780.64 and 1731.25 cm⁻¹ (cis and trans lactone isomers). ¹H NMR (CDCl₃) 4.7 and 4.8 ppm (both m, cis and trans isomers of 5-H lactone ring).

Example 3 Synthesis of 3-benzenesulfonyl-5-methyleneoxybutyl-butyrolactone

A vial was charged with 3 g of methyl phenylsulphonylacetate, 3 g of THF, and 1.62 g of sodium ethoxide. To this mixture was added 0.65 g of butyl glycidyl ether. The vial was placed under a pressure of 150 psig of nitrogen (to retard evaporation of the solvent) and heated at 100° C. for four hours. The vial was cooled, depressurized, and the contents mixed with 1 ml of conc. hydrochloric acid and 2 ml of chloroform. The mixture was washed twice with 5 ml of water, separated, dried over magnesium sulfate, treated with charcoal, filtered, and the solvent removed on the rotary evaporator to give a syrup. IR (neat) 1778.92 and 1743.69 cm⁻¹(cis and trans lactone isomers). ¹H NMR (CDCl₃) 4.6 and 4.75 ppm (both m, cis and trans isomers of 5-H lactone ring).

Example 4 Synthesis of (1-Methylethylidene)bis(4,1-phenyleneoxymethylene)-bis[5-(3-carboethoxyfuran-2-one)]

A pressure vessel was charged with 5.05 g of diethyl malonate, 9.5 g of ethanol, and 10.5 g of sodium ethoxide. To this mixture was added 5.1 g of bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether. The bomb was sealed, pressured with 150 psig with nitrogen and then heated to 100° C. for two hours. The bomb was cooled, depressurized, and the product neutralized with conc. hydrochloric acid. The product was taken up in chloroform, washed with water, dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and the solvent removed to give 6.6 g (80% yield) of resinous product. By proton NMR, all the epoxy groups had been converted to product IR (neat) 1780.88 (lactone carbonyl), 1735.92 cm⁻¹. ¹H NMR (CDCl₃) 4.8 and 4.9 ppm (both m, cis and tans isomers of 5-H lactone ring).

Example 5 Synthesis of (1-Methylethylidene)bis(4,1-phenyleneoxymethylene)-bis[5-(3-carbomethoxyfuran-2-one)]

A similar reaction to that found in Example 4, using dimethyl malonate in place of diethyl malonate, gave the corresponding carbomethoxy derivative. Use of higher temperature for this reaction (100° C. rather than refluxing methanol) resulted in a distinctly higher yield (95% vs. 45%).

Example 6 (1-Methylethylidene)bis(4,1-phenyleneoxymethylene)bis[5-(furan-2-one)]

A 100 ml round bottomed flask was charged with 0.7 g of anhydrous magnesium chloride, 32 ml of dimethyl acetamide and 6 drops of water. To the flask was added 4.4 g of (1-methylethylidene)bis(4,1-phenyleneoxymethylene)bis[5-(3-carboethoxyfuran-2-one)] as synthesized in Example 4 above. After refluxing the mixture for 40 min., IR spectra revealed that the lactone carbonyl peak at 1780 cm⁻¹ remained and the ester carbonyl peak at 1735 cm⁻¹ was absent. Subsequently, it was found that heating the starting material in a vial under nitrogen pressure at 200 psig at a temperature of 150° C. using hydrochloric acid or tosic acid was also effective for complete decarboethoxylation.

Aminolysis of Gamma-Butyrolactones

The aminolysis of gamma-butyrolactones may be described as an amide forming reaction caused by the reaction of a primary amine with a lactone to give a hydroxyamide:

Example 7 Aminolysis of Gamma-Butyrolactone

The aminolysis of the parent lactone, gamma-butyrolactone, was conducted in a sealed NMR tube that was held at room temperature (21° C.+/−1° C.) during the course of the experiment. The integrated intensity of two peaks was monitored. The peaks corresponded to the methylene group adjacent to the ester ring oxygen of the lactone (triplet located at 4.3 ppm) and the methylene group adjacent to the nitrogen in butyl amine (triplet located at 2.5 ppm). The ratio of ester/amine was computed and is shown as % concentration of lactone in the table below.

Example 8 Aminolysis of 3-cyano-5-phenoxymethyl-gamma-butyrolactone

A solution of 3-cyano-5-phenoxymethyl-gamma-butyrolactone (as prepared in Example 1) was prepared by weighing into a NMR tube 0.0893 g (0.0004375 mol) of 3-cyano-5-phenoxymethyl-gamma-butyrolactone and 0.0147 g of durene dissolved in 0.589 g of DMF-d₇. Then 0.043 ml (0.0004375 mol) of N-butylamine was added. The tube was sealed and the ¹H NMR spectrum recorded at various times. The integrated intensity of the triplet due to the methylene group adjacent to the nitrogen atom of butylamine at 2.58 ppm (here designated “a”) and the integrated intensity of the triplet due to the methylene group adjacent to the amido nitrogen at 3.18 ppm (here designated “b”) were used to calculate the relative concentration of butylamine in the mixture; the relative decrease in the concentration of the amine at a given time was calculated as a/(a+b). The time at which the amine and amide were equal in concentration was estimated to be 5.0 min. When compared to the aminolysis rate of the parent unsubstituted lactone, the relative half-life must be adjusted by dividing this time by a factor of 4 to compare rates since the reaction is approximately second order and the concentration was ½ of the concentration of the control. The half life was found to be 1.25 min.

Example 9 Aminolysis of 5,5′-[1,4-butylenebis(oxymethylene)]-bis[ethyl(tetrahydro-2-oxo)-3-furancarboxylate

A solution of 5,5′-[1,4-butylenebis(oxymethylene)]-bis[ethyl(tetrahydro-2-oxo)-3-furancarboxylate (as prepared in Example 2) was prepared by weighing into a NMR tube 0.1883 g (0.0004375 mol) of 5,5′-[1,4-butylenebis(oxymethylene)]-bis[ethyl(tetrahydro-2-oxo)-3-furancarboxylate and 0.0291 g of durene dissolved in 0.441 g of DMF-d7. Then 0.086 ml (0.000875 mol) of N-butylamine was added. The tube was sealed and the ¹H NMR spectrum recorded at various times. The integrated intensity of the triplet due to the methylene group adjacent to the nitrogen atom of butylamine at 2.58 ppm (here designated “a”) and the integrated intensity of the triplet due to the methylene group adjacent to the amido nitrogen at 3.13 ppm (here designated “b”) were used to calculate the relative concentration of butylamine in the mixture; the relative decrease in the concentration of the amine at a given time was calculated as a/(a+b). The half life was found to be 88 min.

Example 10 Aminolysis of 3-benzenesulfonyl-5-methyleneoxybutyl-butyrolactone

A solution of 3-benzenesulfonyl-5-methyleneoxybutyl-butyrolactone was prepared by weighing into a vial 0.1367 g (0.0004375 mol) of 3-benzenesulfonyl-5-methyleneoxybutyl-butyrolactone and 0.0145 g (0.000109 mol) of durene in 0.5418 g of CDCl₃. The solution was transferred to an NMR tube. The tube was cooled in an ice bath to 5° C. and then 0.043 ml (0.0004375 mol) of N-butylamine was added. The tube was sealed and the ¹H NMR spectrum recorded at various times. The integrated intensity of the triplet due to the methylene group adjacent to the nitrogen atom of butylamine at 2.58 ppm (here designated “a”) and the integrated intensity of the two multiplets at 4.6 and 4.75 ppm (here designated “b”) were used to calculate the relative concentration of butylamine in the mixture; the relative decrease in the concentration of the amine at a given time was calculated as a/(a+b). The reaction of the lactone having the sulfonyl group was so rapid that the half life {a/(a+b)=0.5} had to be estimated from only a few data points. The time at which the amine and amide were equal in concentration was estimated to be 1.0 min. When compared to the aminolysis rate of the parent unsubstituted lactone, the relative half-life must be adjusted by dividing this time by a factor of 4 to compare rates since the reaction is approximately second order and the concentration was ½ of the concentration of the control.

Example 11 Aminolysis of 3,8-Dibutyl-2,7-dioxaspiro[4,4]nonane-1,6-dione

3,8-Dibutyl-2,7-dioxaspiro[4,4]nonane-1,6-dione was prepared according to W. E. Fristad and S. S. Hershberger, J. Org. Chem., 1985, 50(7), 1026-1031. Aminolysis of this lactone was followed by IR spectroscopy. The spiro lactone reacted rapidly in one ring and more slowly in the second ring.

Relative Aminolysis Rates of Unsubstituted and Substituted Gamma-Butyrolactones

Using the half-life for butyrolactone determined above (9926 min) and the aminolysis data given in Table 2 below, the relative aminolysis rates for the substituted gamma-butyrolactones can be calculated as described above. These rates are expressed as log(k/k_(o)), and are plotted versus the F value for the functional group at 21° C. as given in C. Hansch, et al., Chem. Rev., 1991, 91, pp. 165-195. This plot is shown in FIG. 1.

TABLE 1 Substituent F^(b) 1 BF₂ 0.26 2 Br 0.45 3 GeBr₃ 0.61 4 SiBr₃ 0.44 5 Cl 0.42 6 HgCl 0.33 7 SO₂Cl 1.16 8 SCl 0.42 9 ICI₂ 1.03 10 P(O)Cl₂ 0.70 11 PCl₂ 0.50 12 P(S)Cl₂ 0.63 13 GeCl₃ 0.65 14 SiCl₃ 0.44 15 F 0.45 16 HgF 0.35 17 SOF 0.67 18 SO₂F 0.72 19 IF₂ 0.82 20 POF₂ 0.74 21 PF₂ 0.44 22 GeF₃ 0.76 23 SF₃ 0.63 24 SiF₃ 0.47 25 IF₄ 0.98 26 PF₄ 0.54 27 SF₅ 0.56 28 I 0.42 29 IO 0.55 30 IO₂ 0.61 31 NO 0.49 32 NO₂ 0.65 33 ONO₂ 0.48 34 N≡N⁺ 1.58 35 N≡N⁺(BF₄)⁻ 1.48 36 NNO₂ ⁻ 0.20 37 N₃ 0.48 38 O⁻ −0.26   39 SO₂ ⁻ 0.03 40 SO₃ ⁻ 0.29 41 S⁻ 0.03 42 AsO₃H⁻ 0.04 43 H 0.03 44 NHNO₂ 0.99 45 OH 0.33 46 S(O)OH 0.01 47 PO₃H⁻ 0.19 48 OPO₃H⁻ 0.41 49 SH 0.30 50 B(OH)₂ −0.03   51 NH₂ 0.08 52 NHOH 0.11 53 SO₂NH₂ 0.49 54 PO(OH)₂ 0.34 55 PH₂ 0.09 56 B(OH)₃ ⁻ −0.42   57 GeH₃ 0.03 58 NH₃ 0.92 59 NHNH₂ 0.22 60 SiH₃ 0.06 61 CBr₃ 0.28 62 CClF₂ 0.40 63 5-chloro-1-tetrazolyl 0.58 64 CoCl 0.46 65 N═CCl₂ 0.26 66 CCl₃ 0.38 67 OCCl₃ 0.46 68 COF 0.48 69 OCF₂O 0.36 70 CF₃ 0.38 71 HgCF₃ 0.29 72 HgSCF₃ 0.38 73 I═NSO₂CF₃ 1.20 74 N═NCF₃ 0.50 75 OCF₃ 0.39 76 SOCF₃ 0.58 77 SeOCF₃ 0.76 78 SO₂CF₃ 0.74 79 SeO₂CF₃ 0.97 80 OSO₂CF₃ 0.56 81 SCF₃ 0.36 82 SeCF₃ 0.43 83 HgCN 0.27 84 CN 0.51 85 NC 0.47 86 CN(BBr₃) 0.64 87 CN(BCl₃) 0.93 88 CN(BF₃) 0.71 89 N═C═O 0.31 90 OCN 0.69 91 SO₂CN 0.97 92 N═C═S 0.51 93 SCN 0.49 94 SeCN 0.57 95 N═NCN 0.56 96 N(O)═NCN 0.70 97 C(NO₂)₃ 0.65 98 5-azido-1-tetrazolyl 0.53 99 CO₂ ⁻ −0.10   100 CHBr₂ 0.31 101 CHCl₂ 0.31 102 OCHCl₂ 0.43 103 CHF₂ 0.29 104 OCHF₂ 0.37 105 SOCHF₂ 0.51 106 SO₂CHF₂ 0.67 107 SCHF₂ 0.32 108 S(O)(═NH)CF₃ 0.64 109 NHSO₂CF₃ 0.45 110 CHI₂ 0.27 111 NHCN 0.28 112 1-(1H)-tetrazolyl 0.52 113 5-(1H)-tetrazolyl 0.65 114 5-hydroxy-1-tetrazolyl 0.41 115 5-mercapto-1-tetrazolyl 0.44 116

0.35 117 CHO 0.33 118 COOH 0.34 119 CH₂Br 0.14 120 CH₂Cl 0.13 121 OCH₂Cl 0.33 122 CH₂F 0.15 123 OCH₂F 0.29 124 SCH₂F 0.25 125 CH₂I 0.12 126 NHCHO 0.28 127 CONH₂ 0.26 128 CSNH₂ 0.24 129 CH═NOH-t 0.28 130 3,4-N═CHNH— −0.10   131 N(O)═NCONH₂ 0.56 132 OCH₂O −0.11   133 Me 0.01 134 CH₂SO₂R 0.16 135 SiMeCl₂ 0.29 136 SiMeF₂ 0.32 137 HgMe 0.55 138 NHCH₂SO₃ ⁻ 0.12 139 NHCONH₂ 0.09 140 N(Me)NO₂ 0.43 141 NHCSNH₂ 0.26 142 OMe 0.29 143 CH₂OH 0.03 144 SOMe 0.52 145 S(OMe) 0.24 146 OS(═O)CH₃ 0.43 147 S(O)OMe 0.47 148 SO₂Me 0.53 149 SSO₂Me 0.38 150 OSO₂Me 0.40 151 SMe 0.23 152 SSMe 0.27 153 SeMe 0.16 154 NHMe 0.03 155 CH₂NH₂ 0.04 156 NHSO₂Me 0.28 157 CH₂NH₃ ⁺ 0.59 158 N(COF)₂ 0.57 159 HgOCOCF₃ 0.48 160 COCF₃ 0.54 161 SCOCF₃ 0.48 162 OCOCF₃ 0.58 163 N(CF₃)C═O(F) 0.49 164 CF₂OCF₂ ⁻ 0.77 165 CF₂CF₃ 0.44 166 OCF₂CF₃ 0.55 167 SO₂CF₂CF₃ 0.81 168 SCF₂CF₃ 0.42 169 N(CF₃)₂ 0.35 170 S(CF₃)═NSO₂CF₃ 1.07 171 SO(CF₃)—NSO₂CF₃ 1.09 172 N(SO₂CF₃)₂ 0.50 173 P(CF₃)₂ 0.55 174 P(CN)₂ 0.75 175 C≡CH 0.22 176 OCF₂CHCFCl 0.38 177 NHCOCF₃ 0.38 178 CH═NSO₂CF₃ 0.63 179 OCF₂CHF₂ 0.38 180 SCF₂CHF₂ 0.35 181

0.60 182 SC≡CH 0.30 183 SCH═CHCl 0.34 184 SeCH═CHCl 0.30 185 CH₂CF₃ 0.15 186 CH₂SOCF₃ 0.27 187 CH₂SO₂CF₃ 0.29 188 CH₂SCF₃ 0.13 189 CH₂CN 0.17 190 CH═CHNO₂-t 0.35 191 CH₂CO₂ ⁻ 0.19 192 CH₂SCN 0.14 193 CH═CH₂ 0.13 194 NHCOCH₂Cl 0.27 195 N(Me)SO₂CF₃ 0.46 196 HgOCOCH₃ 0.39 197 C(Me)(NO₂)₂ 0.50 198 oxiranyl 0.09 199 OCH═CH₂ 0.34 200 COMe 0.33 201 SCOMe 0.37 202 OCOMe 0.42 203 COOMe 0.34 204 2-thiacyclopropyl 0.08 205 SCH═CH₂ 0.29 206 SeCH═CH₂ 0.29 207 1-aziridinyl 0.03 208 2-aziridinyl −0.01   209 N-methyl-3-oxaziridinyl 0.10 210 NHCOOMe 0.07 211 NHCOMe 0.31 212 CONHMe 0.35 213 CH═NOMe 0.40 214 CH₂CONH₂ 0.08 215 NHCSMe 0.30 216 CSNHMe 0.29 217 CH═NNHSCNH₂ 0.46 218 OCH₂CH₂O⁻ −0.08   219 Et 0.00 220 CH═NNHCONHNH₂ 0.26 221 OCH₂CH₃ 0.26 222 CH(OH)Me 0.16 223 CH₂OMe 0.13 224 SO₂Et 0.59 225 SEt 0.26 226 P(Cl)NMe₂ 0.31 227 CH₂SC(NH₂)₂ ⁺ 0.14 228 SiClMe₂ 0.16 229 SiFMe₂ 0.12 230 NHEt −0.04   231 N(Me)₂ 0.15 232 N(Me)SO₂Me 0.21 233 SO₂NMe₂ 0.44 234 N(SO₂Me)₂ 0.45 235 SN(Me)₂ 0.15 236 N═NNMe₂ −0.02   237 N(Me)N⁺═(Me)N— 1.10 238 P(O)Me₂ 0.40 239 PO(OMe)₂ 0.37 240 PMe₂ 0.05 241 S⁺Me₂ 0.98 242 S⁺(Me)₂tosyl 1.04 243 CH₂CH₂NH₃ ⁺ 0.27 244 SiH(Me)₂ 0.03 245 1-(1,7(BH)₁₀—C₂H) 0.23 246 2-(1,7(BH)₁₀—C₂H) 0.16 247 4-(1,7(BH)₁₀—C₂H) 0.00 248 1-(1,2(BH)₁₀—C₂H) 0.50 249 3-(1,2(BH)₁₀—C₂H) 0.22 250 C≡CCF₃ 0.37 251 CF═CFCF₃-t 0.36 252 N═C(CF₃)₂ 0.32 253 CF₂CF₂CF₃ 0.42 254 CF(CF₃)₂ 0.31 255 SO₂CF₂CF₂CF₃ 0.81 256 SO₂CF(CF₃)₂ 0.80 257 SCF₂CF₂CF₃ 0.43 258 SCF(CF₃)₂ 0.46 259 TeCF₂CF₂CF₃ 0.45 260 C(OH)(CF₃)₂ 0.29 261 CH(SCF₃)₂ 0.43 262 CH(CN)₂ 0.52 263 CH═CHCF₃-c 0.18 264 CH═CHCF₃-t 0.24 265 CH═CHSO₂CF₃ 0.22 266 CH═CHCN 0.28 267 C≡CMe 0.29 268 N(Me)COCF₃ 0.41 269 CH═CHCHO 0.29 270 cyclopropyl 0.02 271 C(Me)═CH₂ 0.13 272 CH═CHMe-t 0.09 273 CH₂CH═CH₂ −0.06   274 C(Et)(NO₂)₂ 0.51 275 OCH₂CH═CH₂ 0.25 276 COEt 0.34 277 COOEt 0.34 278 CH₂OCOMe 0.07 279 CH₂CH₂COOH 0.02 280 SCH₂CH═CH₂ 0.23 281 SeCH₂CH═CH₂ 0.26 282 CH₂CH₂CH₂— −0.20   283 N(Me)COMe 0.34 284 CH₂NHCOMe 0.12 285 NHCOOEt 0.23 286 C(NO₂)Me₂ 0.19 287 OCH₂CH₂CH₂O— 0.03 288 isopropyl 0.04 289 CH₂CH₂CH₃ 0.01 290 N⁺(Me)═CHN(Me)— 1.05 291 NHCONHEt 0.19 292 NHCSNHEt 0.40 293 OCHMe₂ 0.34 294 OCH₂CH₂CH₃ 0.26 295 CH₂CH(OH)Me −0.06   296 C(OOH)Me₂ 0.17 297 SCHMe₂ 0.30 298 CH₂NMe₂ 0.03 299 GeMe₃ 0.03 300 N⁺(Me)₃ 0.86 301 CH₂NH⁺(Me)₂ 0.39 302 Si(Me)₂OMe 0.09 303 OSiMe₃ 0.31 304 SiMe(OMe)₂ 0.05 305 Si(OMe)₃ 0.10 306 P⁺Me₃ 0.71 307 SiMe₃ 0.01 308 SnMe₃ 0.03 309 1-(1,2-(BH)₁₀—C₂Me) 0.43 310 CH₂-1-(1,7-(BH)₁₀—C₂H) 0.03 311 CH₂-1-(1,2-(BH)₁₀—C₂H) 0.14 312 1-(1,2)-(BH)₁₀—C₃H₃HgCH₃) 0.82 313 2-(hydroxymethyl)carboran-1-yl 0.34 314 I(OCOCF₃)₂ 1.18 315 cyclo-C₄F₇ 0.45 316 COCF₂CF₂CF₃ 0.55 317 C(CF₃)₃ 0.53 318 (CF₂)₃CF₃ 0.44 319 SO₂C(CF₃)₃ 0.84 320 SC(CF₃)₃ 0.47 321 C(SCF₃)₃ 0.49 322 SeC(CF₃)₃ 0.46 323 C(CN)₃ 0.92 324 cyclo-1-(OH)C₄F₆ 0.36 325 CH═C(CN)₂ 0.57 326 2-(5-bromofuryl) 0.23 327

0.36 328 3-chloro═1-pyrroline-2,5-dione 0.47 329 3-pyridazinyl 0.21 330 3,4-CH═CHCH—CH— 0.07 331 C(Me)(CN)₂ 0.59 332 4-pyrimidinyl 0.18 333 2-pyrimidinyl 0.13 334 5-pyrimidinyl 0.25 335 2-furyl 0.10 336 2-thienyl 0.13 337 3-thienyl 0.08 338 2-selenienyl 0.10 339 2-tellurienyl 0.10 340 1-pyrryl 0.50 341 1-pyrroline-2,5-dione 0.36 342 CH═CHCOMe 0.31 343 I(OCOMe)₂ 0.80 344 N(COMe)₂ 0.36 345 cyclobutyl 0.02 346 COCHMe₂ 0.35 347 (CH₂)₄ −0.40   348 NHCOCH(Me)₂ 0.21 349 C(Me)₃ −0.02   350 CH(Me)Et −0.02   351 CH₂CH(Me)₂ −0.01   352 (CH₂)₃CH₃ −0.01   353 O(CH₂)₃CH₃ 0.29 354 CH₂C(OH)Me₂ −0.11   355 C(OMe)₃ 0.01 356 AsEt₂ 0.32 357 As(O)Et₂ 0.60 358 As(S)Et₂ 0.54 359 NH(CH₂)₃CH₃ −0.21   360 N(Et)₂ 0.01 361 PO(Et)₂ 0.33 362 N═NPO(OEt)₂ 0.05 363 PO(OEt)₂ 0.52 364 P(Et)₂ 0.11 365 P(S)Et₂ 0.36 366 CH₂N(Me)₃ ⁺ 0.38 367 CH₂CH₂NH(Me)₂ ⁺ 0.29 368 CH₂OSi(CH₃)₃ 0.00 369 CH₂Si(Me)₃ −0.09   370 PO(N(Me)₂)₂ 0.27 371 P(N(Me)₂)₂ 0.17 372 2-(methylcarbonyl)carboran-1-yl 0.31 373 2-[(carbonyloxy)methyl]carboran-1-yl 0.66 374 CH₂-1-(1,2-(BH)₁₀—C₂Me) 0.12 375 C(CN)═C(CN)₂ 0.65 376 2-(5-cyanofuryl) 0.32 377 2-(5-formylfuryl) 0.34 378 2-pyridyl 0.40 379 3-pyridyl 0.24 380 4-pyridyl 0.21 381 2-(4,6-dimethyl-s-triazinyl) 0.21 382 1-cyclopentenyl −0.03   383 CH═CHCOOEt 0.27 384 cyclopentyl 0.02 385 COC(Me)₃ 0.26 386 NHCO₂(CH₂)₃CH₃ 0.13 387 C(Et)(Me)₂ 0.03 388 CH₂C(Me)₃ 0.03 389 (CH₂)₄CH₃ −0.01   390 O(CH₂)₄CH₃ 0.29 391 CH₂PO(OEt)₂ 0.17 392 CH₂CH₂N(Me)₃ ⁺ 0.19 393 CH₂CH₂Si(Me)₃ −0.11   394 Si(Me)₂OSi(Me)₃ 0.04 395 C₆Cl₅ 0.27 396 C₆F₅ 0.27 397 P(O)(C₃F₇)₂ 0.84 398 OP(O)(C₃F₇)₂ 0.67 399 NHP(O)(C₃F₇)₂ 0.33 400 CH₂Co(CN)₅ ⁻³ −0.39   401 CH₂Mn(CO)₅ 0.02 402 C₆H₂-2,4,6-(NO₂)₃ 0.26 403 C₆H₄-3-Br 0.12 404 C₆H₄-4-Br 0.18 405 C₆H₄-3-Cl 0.19 406 C₆H₄-4-Cl 0.18 407 C₆H₄-3-F 0.19 408 C₆H₄-4-F 0.17 409 OC₆H₄-4-F −0.03   410 C₆H₄-3-I 0.18 411 C₆H₄-4-I 0.18 412 C₆H₄-3-NO₂ 0.23 413 C₆H₄-4-NO₂ 0.26 414 SC₆H₄-4-NO₂ 0.36 415 SOC₆H₄-4-NO₂ 0.55 416 2-benzotriazolyl 0.47 417 C₆H₅ 0.12 418 N(O)═NSO₂C₆H₅ 0.62 419 N═NC₆H₅ 0.30 420 OC₆H₅ 0.37 421 SOC₆H₅ 0.51 422 2-(5-acetylfuryl) 0.31 423 2-(6-methylpyronyl) 0.36 424 SO₂C₆H₅ 0.58 425 OSO₂C₆H₅ 0.37 426 SC₆H₅ 0.30 427 NHC₆H₅ 0.22 428 HNSO₂C₆H₅ 0.24 429 SO₂NHC₆H₅ 0.51 430 2-(5-ethylfuryl) 0.20 431 1-(2,5-dimethylpyrryl) 0.52 432 1-cyclohexenyl −0.07   433 cyclohexyl 0.03 434 N(C₃H₇)₂ 0.06 435 (CH₂)₄NMe₂ −0.01   436 PO(isopropyl)₂ 0.36 437 P(isopropyl)₂ 0.04 438 P(O)(OPr)₂ 0.33 439 Ge(Et)₃ 0.03 440 (CH₂)₃N(Me)₃ ⁺ 0.12 441 Si(OEt)₃ 0.03 442 P(Et)₃ ⁺ 0.94 443 Sn(Et)₃ 0.03 444 P(═NSO₂CF₃)(C₃F₇)₂ 1.11 445 Si(NMe₂)₃ 0.00 446 2-benzoxazolyl 0.30 447 2-benzthiazolyl 0.27 448 COC₆H₅ 0.31 449 OCOC₆H₅ 0.26 450 COOC₆H₅ 0.34 451 N═CHC₆H₅ 0.14 452 CH═NC₆H₅ 0.33 453 NHCOC₆H₅ 0.13 454 CONHC₆H₅ 0.17 455 C₆H₅-4-Me 0.12 456 CH₂C₆H₅ −0.04   457 N═NC₆H₃-5-Me-2-OH 0.26 458 C₆H₄-4-OMe 0.13 459 CH(OH)C₆H₅ 0.05 460 CH₂OC₆H₅ 0.08 461 CH₂SO₂C₆H₅ 0.17 462 C(Et)₃ 0.02 463 (CH₂)₆CH₃ 0.00 464 SiMe(OSi(Me)₃)₂ 0.01 465 CF₂CF₂C₆H₄-4-F 0.32 466 C≡CC₆H₅ 0.15 467 CH═NCOC₆H₅ 0.34 468 CH═CHC₆H₅ 0.10 469 CH₂Fe(CO)₂(χ-C₅H₅) −0.11   470 CH═NNHCOC₆H₅ 0.34 471 N—CHC₆H₄-4-OMe 0.15 472 NHCOC₆H₄-4-OMe 0.17 473 SCH═NSO₂C₆H₄-4-Me 0.61 474 C₆H₄-4-Et 0.13 475 CH₂CH₂C₆H₅ −0.01   476 N═C(Me)NHC₆H₅ 0.38 477 Si(C₆H₅)(Me)₂ 0.06 478 S(Me)═NSO₂C₆H₄-4-Me 0.61 479 2,4,6-trimethylpyridinium 0.61 480 PO(CMe₃)₂ 0.28 481 PO(C₄H₉)₂ 0.30 482 PO(OC₄H₉)₂ 0.35 483 P(CMe₃)₂ −0.01   484 C₆H₅Cr(CO)₃ 0.36 485 2-benzo-4-thiopyronyl 0.34 486 2-(benzothiopyronyl) 0.48 487 2-(benzo-1,4-pyronyl) 0.41 488 CH═CHCOC₆H₄-4-NO₂ 0.21 489 CH₂Mo(CO)₃(C₅H₅) −0.07   490 CH═CHCOC₆H₅ 0.25 491 C₆H₄-4-CHMe₂ 0.13 492 Si(OSiMe₃)₃ −0.08   493 ferrocenyl −0.09   494 ferricenium⁺ 0.30 495 ferrocenonium⁺ −0.01   496 C₆H₄-4-CMe₃ 0.12 497 1-adamantyl −0.07   498 1-dibenzarsenyl 0.23 499 1-dibenzoarsoxyl 0.22 500 1-dibenzoarsazinyl 0.18 501 As(C₆H₅)₂ 0.04 502 AsO(C₆H₅)₂ 0.49 503 P(C₆H₅)₂(BCl₃) 0.62 504 N(C₆H₅)₂ 0.12 505 PO(C₆H₅)₂ 0.32 506 P(C₆H₅)₂ 0.10 507 PS(C₆H₅)₂ 0.22 508 P(N(C₃H₇)₂)C₆H₄-3-F 0.20 509

0.37 510

0.38 511

0.17 512 CH(C₆H₅)₂ 0.01 513

0.16 514 PO(C₆H₅)C₆H₄-4-Me 0.09 515 CH₂PO(C₆H₅)₂ 0.21 516 PS(C₆H₅)C₆H₄-4-Me 0.03 517 P⁺(Me)(C₆H₅)₂ 1.04 518 Si(Me)(C₆H₅)₂ 0.11 519 COOCH(C₆H₅)₂ 0.28 520 PO(C₆H₄-4-Me)₂ 0.14 521 PS(C₆H₄-4-Me)₂ 0.20 522 P⁺(Me)(C₆H₅)(C₆H₄-4-Me) 1.02 523 P⁺(Me)(C₆H₄-4-Me)₂ 1.04 524 Ge(C₆H₅)₃ 0.07 525 2-methyl-4,6-diphenylpyridinium 0.61 526 N═P(C₆H₅)₃ −0.10   527 Si(C₆H₅)₃ −0.04   528 Sn(C₆H₅)₃ (0.62) 529 C(C₆H₅)₃ 0.01 530 2,4,6-triphenylpyridinium 0.35

TABLE 2 Kinetic Values and Reaction Rates for Unsubstituted and Substituted Gamma-Butyrolactones Equiv. Obs. Kinetic Ex. Func. F Lactone Crossover Correction Corrected Log No. Group Value and BuNH₂ time (min.) Factor t_(1/2) (min) (k/k_(o)) 1 CN 0.51 0.000437 5 ¼ 1.25 3.90 3 SO₂phenyl 0.58 0.000437 1 ¼ 0.25 4.60 Parent H 0.03 0.000875 9926   1 9926 0 2 CO₂Et 0.34 0.000875 88  1 88 2.05 

What is claimed is:
 1. A lactone composition having the structural formula I, wherein each n is independently 1 to 3; L is either present as a substituent having two functional groups, or is a direct bond forming a spiro-bislactone, or is H wherein rings of the structure I are not connected, or is a radically polymerizable group wherein the rings of the structure I are not connected; wherein Y is either present independently as alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, or aryl or is a direct bond; each X is independently a substituent having a field effect, F, between −0.42 and +1.58

wherein said lactone is employed as a cross-linking agent in a coating composition containing amine compound(s) that are reactive with lactone groups.
 2. The lactone of claim 1 wherein when Y is alkenyl, the alkenyl group is defined as

wherein B₁, B₂, and B₃ are individually a substituent group X as defined in claim
 1. 3. A lactone of claim 1 wherein when Y is phenyl, the phenyl group is defined as

wherein A₁, A₂, A₃, A₄, and A₅ are each independently a substituent group X as defined in claim
 1. 4. A composition of claim 1 wherein the L substituent having two functional groups is


5. A composition of claim 1 wherein the L substituent having two functional groups is


6. A composition of claim 1 wherein X is selected from the group consisting of and identified with the numbers 2, 5, 15, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 40, 43, 45, 47, 48, 49, 58, 62, 70, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 84, 85, 90, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 125, 127, 128, 133, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, 148, 150, 151, 153, 156, 160, 161, 162, 163, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 175, 177, 178, 179, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 197, 198, 199.200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 231, 232, 233, 234, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 283, 284, 285, 286, 288, 289, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 297, 298, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529 and 530 in Table
 1. 7. A composition of claim 1 wherein X is selected from the group consisting of and identified with the numbers 2, 5, 15, 28, 32, 33, 40, 45, 49, 70, 75, 76, 78, 80, 84, 85, 90, 93, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 111, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 125, 127, 128, 133, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, 148, 150, 151, 153, 156, 160, 161, 162, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 175, 177, 178, 179, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191, 192, 193, 194, 194, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 207, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 231, 232, 233, 234, 238, 239, 240, 241, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 267, 270, 271, 272, 273, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 285, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 297, 298, 300, 303, 317, 318, 323, 325, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 345, 378, 379, 380, 384, 388, 395, 396, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 416, 417, 420, 424, 425, 433, 448, 449, 450, 453, 458, 460, 474, 475 and 512 in Table
 1. 8. A process comprising: contacting lactones of structure B with an amine to form a hydroxy amide, wherein each Y is present independently as alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, or a direct bond to X; each X is independently a substituent having a field effect, F, between −0.42 and +1.58; wherein R is a branched or straight chain alkyl group of C₁ to C₁₀, or an aryl group; and wherein each n is independently 1 to 3


9. A process comprising: contacting a spiro-bislactone of structure A, wherein each n=1 to 3 independently and R is a branched or straight chain alkyl group of C₁ to C₁₀, or an aryl group; and wherein each n is independently 1 to 3; with an amine to form a hydroxy amide


10. A process comprising: contacting a bicyclo-lactone of structure C wherein R is a branched or straight chain alkyl group of C₁ to C₁₀, or an aryl group, or C(O)OE wherein E is independently alkyl or aryl, with a amine


11. A process comprising: contacting a polymer containing one or more lactone groups prepared from at least one lactone monomer of structure D with an amine to form a hydroxy amide, wherein each Y is present independently as alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, or a direct bond to X; each X is independently a substituent having a field effect, F, between −0.42 and +1.58; wherein R_(PG) is a radically polymerizable substituent group selected from the group consisting of styrene, acrylate, methacrylate, acrylamide, and methacrylamide; and wherein each n is independently 1 to 3


12. A process, comprising: (i) performing the steps of any one of the claims 8, 9, 10 or 11; (ii) applying a product resulting from step (i) to an object surface.
 13. An article treated by the process of claim
 12. 